Vladimir Putin is losing more than 1,000 troops a day according tot he latest analysis (Picture: EPA)

Russia is losing more than 1,000 troops a day in Ukraine after defending forces started a deadly AI drone counter-attack.

Ukraine has stepped up its own campaign to use the technology across the frontline to slow the advance of Vladimir Putin’s troops.

The country’s military reported at least 32,980 Russian casualties in April. As of Friday,Russia had suffered 28,200 casualties in May,meaning Putin’s forces have seen an average of more than 1,000 a day in both months.

Much of Ukraine’s recent successes can be put down to a new generation of AI-powered drones,experts have suggested.

The new Hornet drone has allowed Ukraine to strike Russian convoys that are travelling to the frontline because it can hit targets that are further away.

It means the Ukrainian army can destroy vehicles supplying Russian forces along key roads in occupied parts of the country like Crimea.

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Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.The Hornet model only needs a human to direct it close to the target area before it locks on.A drone struck the Romanian city of Galati,near the border with Ukraine,last week (Picture: AFP)Drones have been central to both sides’ attacks in the war so far (Picture: Getty)Its AI targeting system has been trained on thousands of hours of videos of Russian military targets gathered over the past four years of war.The machine also has access to the Starlink satellite network,which is less liable to being jammed by Russian forces.Last week,videos emerged of fires raging in Russia after a recent wave of drone attacks.Ukraine’s defence minister,Mykhailo Fedorov,said on Wednesday that the ‘logistics lockdown’ is part of a plan to ‘deny the enemy the ability to conduct sustained offensive operations’.It comes after the head of British spy agency GCHQ,Anne Keast-Butler,said Russian forces were ‘going backwards on the battlefield’ inside Ukraine.In her first speech since taking the job,the spy chief said Ukraine was pushing Putin’s troops backwards for the first time since late 2022.She also said there was ‘new intelligence showing that almost half a million Russian soldiers have now been killed since the conflict began’.John Healey,the defence secretary (Picture: Getty)John Healey,the defence secretary,told the Sun: ‘Ukrainians continue to fight with huge courage and defiance – civilians and military alike.‘Ukrainian forces are not just holding the line – they are pushing it back,making gains across the front.‘Month after month,in this brutal war of attrition,Russia is losing tens of thousands of troops with little gain for such a great loss. Putin has none of the momentum he claims.‘Our commitment is clear – we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.‘We are backing Ukraine in the fight today – with drones,training,and cutting-edge kit – and we are leading the coalition of allies to secure the peace tomorrow.’Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at .For more stories like this,check our news page.